Rebounding lending growth in 2014 and confirmation of shareholder backing of its lending mandate in the strategic review process have underlined the Nordic Investment Bank's (NIB) position as a relevant funding contributor in the Nordic and Baltic regions and support its very strong business profile. While demand for NIB's lending increased, sound core earnings and sustained credit quality in its loan book have resulted in improving capital ratios and an extremely strong financial profile for the company, supporting our revised assessment of NIB's stand-alone credit profile (SACP) to 'aaa.' We are affirming our long- and short-term issuer credit ratings on NIB at 'AAA/A-1+'. The stable outlook reflects our expectation that NIB's solid capital position and robust liquidity will continue to
